Sligo Rovers defender Nando Pijnaker has been named in manager Danny Hay’s New Zealand squad ahead of upcoming World Cup Qualifiers in Qatar.
The All Whites are part of an eight team tournament which starts on March 17th and consists of two groups of four.
Pijnaker’s New Zealand have been drawn to play Papua New Guinea on Friday March 18th (2pm Irish Time), Fiji on Monday March 21st (5pm Irish Time) and New Caledonia on Thursday March 24th (5pm Irish Time).
The top two teams in both groups will advance to semi finals with a final set to take place on March 31st.
The winner will then progress to play in the Intercontinental Play-Off against the fourth placed Concacaf team for a place at the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
The defender, on loan from Portugese clubs Rio Ave started all four matches in New Zealand’s 2021 Olympics campaign and won a senior cap against Lithuania in 2019.
Pijnaker will play for Sligo Rovers against Shamrock Rovers on Friday March 18th before travelling to Qatar to join up with the squad for their games against Fiji and New Caledonia.
